The Road to the Heart
by Guardian Alpha
Summary: Kira, a new keyblade wielder has pledged to herself to travel the worlds and keep them safe from enemies like the Heartless, along the way she meets many friends and allies who will help her achieve her goals. R
1. The War of the Keyblades

Road to the Heart  
Chapter 1: The War of the Keyblades

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or the characters involved except for Kira

It was many years ago, that a battle for the keyblades waged. The keyblades, weapons of both the light, and the darkness. Weapons of the protector, and weapons of the destroyer. This story follows one of both lights. The wielder of the Road to the Heart; Kira.

In a dusty abandoned desert area, a young girl with long black hair strolled among many old and rusted keyblades that were stuck in the ground. She wore a pair of jeans and a blue shirt with a red jacket. On her wrist was a band, a pink heart keychain hung from it and bounched with each step. She looked around as she tucked her hands behind her back. This was Kira, and the place was the keyblade graveyard, a solemn place where the spirits of keyblades and their wielders that were lost during the great keyblade war were put to rest. Kira was an unknown keyblade wielder. So she had never received any formal training in her weapon, nor had she ever been taught magic. She had learned her skills on her own and knew that she could bash any heartless that came her way.

Kira continued down a path that was formed through the keyblade graveyard when she noticed a group of figures standing some distance away. She stopped and squinted, trying to get a better look at this group. She couldn't make out a lot of detail, but it looked like three men, a woman, and a young something. She could tell what.

"Don't they know this place is off-limits to the public?" She asked herself

At that moment three of them reached down and pulled three keyblades from the ground. Unlike most attempts at this the keyblades remained in their owner's grip.

"They're keyblade wielders?" Kira asked in amazement

The three wielders rushed forward, the third man, an older looking gentleman in a long black coat lifted his hand and a large section of the ground ripped itself up blocking the paths of the keyblade wielders.

Kira was in astonishment, someone who could control magic that powerful must be a keyblade wielder, no, a keyblade master.

The tallest of the wielders rushed up the wall, waiting at the top were the old-man and the unknown child.

"He's rushing into a trap!" She told herself

She held out her right hand and a keyblade appeared. It was silver along the blade with a black strip along the top. At the end it curved into the three spokes of a keyblade. At the base toward the handle it had a guard that branched out in a yellow, square design. Attached the bottom of the handle by a keychain was Kira's pink heart. She shouldered the weapon and ran forward toward the battle.

As she came close one of the wielders, the woman appeared in front of her. She wore full blue armor and in her hand was a blue keyblade that thinned toward the center of the blade and expanded out to form a reverse C shape with a set of spikes that formed the spokes. The guard formed a diamond around the owner's hand.

"Stay back," She told Kira.

"But I want to help," Kira replied.

"You aren't strong enough to compete with these two, get out of here!" She shouted

"No!" Kira shouted back darting under the woman's arm and toward the ensueing battle.

Another figure appeared, a young man with golden armor. He had fallen from the sky his body glew with a light blueish hue.

"Wha-what happened to him?" Kira asked, though she already knew. He'd been frozen alive.

"I told you that you don't need to be here, now listen to me and get out!" She told Kira as she cradled the frozen boy's head in her lap.

Kira took a step back, then she turned and released her keyblade sprinting full-speed away from the battle. She ran for hours, almost non-stop. Until she couldn't move anymore. She slowly walked up to a tree she had seen a few yards away. As she managed to get her body under the shade she collapsed from exhaustion, her face was flushed and her chest was heaving. The shade of the tree's branches was doing nothing to lower her body heat.

"Blizzard"

Kira heard a crackling sound above her head and immediately felt cooler than before. She opened her eyes to see a figure standing above her.

"Are you alright my dear?" The figure asked, it was a man, and an older one at that.

Kira's eyes widened as her mind flashed back to the scene with the boy who'd been frozen. She shot up and immediately summoned her keyblade aiming it at the man's head.

"Ah, so you're a keyblade wielder? Interesting." The man said

Now that Kira could see him, he wasn't the same man as before. For one he wasn't wearing the long black coat, he was wearing a blue-robe, another was he had a long gray-beard, where the other had been clean-shaven.

"Who are you?" Kira asked cautiously

"Me? My name is Merlin, and you?" he asked

"Kira. My name is Kira, I wield the keyblade known as 'The Road to the Heart" She lowered the weapon and released it

"What an interesting name. Tell me, have you heard of magic?" He asked

Kira froze at the word. She'd heard of it, plenty of times, seen it, awed at it, never understood it. Magic was one of the things a keyblade master strived to improve in themself, but she hadn't even understood the basics.

"I take it your reaction is a no then?" Merlin asked her

"No, I have heard of magic, but I don't know anything about it." She told him quietly

"A traumatic incident?" He asked

She looked up at him in shock "How did you know?"

"It's my job to know things my dear, and I've seen your reaction before. Something that involved magic has left you in shock and fear of its power. Let me tell you something Kira. Magic is what you make of it, not what other people show you. For example, whatever happened to you is obviously done by someone who misused magic, but as you can see. I just used a simple spell to help you cool down from today's heat."

Kira nodded and slowly a grin came upon her features "Merlin, I know I've just met you, but I have a favor to ask."

"Anything Kira. I aim to teach all those who wish to know whatever I can."

"Will you teach me magic?"

Merlin's features lost control for a moment as he spluttered out a surprised gasp "Teach you magic? You do realize that magic isn't truly taught, more like, passed on."

"Passed on, taught, given. I don't care what you call it. I want to learn, and I want you teach me." She told him

"Well, I suppose it might be worth a try." Merlin put a finger on his chin as he considered the idea "Alright, I'll teach you what I can."

Kira bowed her head "Thank you Merlin."

"Of course, come now. We must be going. It's too hot out today to be studying right now." He said leading her to the south. "Speaking of heat, this brings us to our first lesson, a most basic spell for magicians and wizards, fire. Let me tell you some of the practical purposes…"


	2. Magical Expertise

The Road to the Heart  
Chapter 2: Magical Expertise

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters involved except for Kira

Two months have passed since Kira's experience with magic. Since then she has come far in her studies. Her skills with her keyblade have also grown. One day, she was sitting in her room at Merlin's house in Traverse Town.

"Kira…" Merlin said as he walked into her room

"What is it Merlin?" She asked turning to him in her chair

"I think it is high time that you go off on your own quest to protect the worlds and those who dwell within." He told her

"But Merlin, I haven't learned the second level spells yet. I haven't even learned all the first tier spells."

"Exactly why I'm giving you these." He said handing her four books. Their titles read; Guide to Magic: Aero, Guide to Magic: Gravity, and Guide to Magic: Stop, the fourth was blank

"Merlin, what's this blank book?" She asked

"Open it and read the first page." He told her

Kira opened the book and on the first page was a note, it read:

_Dear Kira,_

_As your teacher I have taught you all I can, magic isn't an exact study, it must be experienced more than it can be learned. Which is why I have given you those tomes. They will be your guides on your travels so that as you grow more skillful in your keyblade skills, your magic will not fall behind. I have also given you another gift. (Turn Page)_

_Your Teacher,  
Merlin_

Kira turned the page and taped to the second piece of paper was a keychain. It was red with a green tome on the end.

"Is this?" Kira asked showing it to Merlin

"It is, a hidden keychain, the ability to summon a keyblade that wasn't lost in the great keyblade war. There are plenty of them scattered throughout the worlds, it will be your job to collect them." Merlin told her

Kira looked down at the page and picked up the keychain. She removed the tape and attached it to her bracelet. The bracelet began to glow, it expanded until it blinded them both. When it faded Kira looked at her keychains. They dangled normally as if nothing had just happened.

"What was that?" She asked

"I, I don't know. I've never been versed in Keyblades before now." He told her "But the keyblade I have given you is the 'Spellbinder' with it your magical abilities should increase."

Kira nodded and threw out her right hand, in a flash of light a keyblade appeared. On the bottom was the keychain she had just received. The guard formed a straightened infinity sign that covered the handle above that, the blade separated into two bars that connected at the top to form a fragmented circle with an orb in the center, on the top of the base bar was a plate with a star inside. The keyblade was a mixes of light and dark blues.

"It looks wonderful Merlin… thank you." She said turning to him and letting the keyblade dissipate.

"Of course my dear, of course. Now, you should dally any longer. You have worlds to go save." He told her

She nodded and almost immediately found herself wandering Traverse Town, a bag slung over her should that contained three ethers and a pair of potions. She walked up to the large gates that separated the third district from the first. As she put her hand on the door a noise sounded behind her. It sounded almost like time and space warping to form a gate of some kind. She turned around and behind her was a trembling black shape with glowing yellow eyes.

"A Shadow!" She shouted as she threw her hand out summoning 'The Road to the Heart' she rushed forward and slashed down with the blade slicing the heartless in half, the shadows dispelled.

"Well, that was easy." Kira said assuming her casual stance. The sound went off again, this time it surrounded her.

More heartless, this time a mixed group of Soldiers, and Shadows (Soldiers are blue bodies with red claws on their hands and boots on their feet, they have the heartless logo on their chest and wear a helmet with the visor up so you can see their glowing yellow eyes) Kira looked around at her current situation

"I don't think I have the power to stop these guys." She said

"Kira!" Merlin's voice called to her

She looked around and didn't spot him

"Kira, down here." She looked down and noticed that her 'Spellbinder' keychain was floating and glowing with a magical aura

"Merlin?" She asked

"Yes, it's me. Remember what I taught you about groups and magic?"

"A good spell for taking out groups is… that's it!" she shouted as realization dawned on her

"That's my girl." Merlin said as the keychain dropped down again

Kira held her keyblade above her head "Thunder!"

A small lightning bolt storm formed around her and fried the heartless

"Well, that was easy, but I can't go spell slinging. I'm a keyblade wielder, not a mage." She said as she let her keyblade disappear.

She looked at the door and pushed it open entering District 1. There she saw a group of people waiting for her. She had come to know these people well over the past few months, people like Cid, Leon, and Aerith had taught her things she'd never forget. She approached the group with a grin.

"Well, I'm off." She said simply

"Yep, I'm gonna miss ya kid" Cid said wrapping an arm around her

"Cid, you're choking me." She said

"Sorry, I get strong when I get emotional" He told her

"It's not like I'll never come back. Who else will I go to when I need gummis?"

He put his hands on her shoulders "That's right, don't you buy from them moogles, blasted things sell cheap pieces is what they do! More interested in turning a profit than keeping you alive!"

"Alright Cid. I think she gets the point." Leon said in his normal, depressing voice

"Leon…" Kira said as Cid stared at him, Leon had been her keyblade trainer for the past two months.

"Don't get emotional now, you'll lose yourself out there." Leon told her

She nodded and turned to Yuffie and Aerith. "Don't forget what we taught you." Yuffie told her

"I won't Yuffie."

"And stay safe"

"That'll be kinda hard Aerith, I'm going to fight the heartless."

Kira smiled at her friends and waved to them as she made her way to the gate that led to the gummi lot. In one of the spots labeled "Reserved" she found her gummi ship "The Path to the Soul" she climbed inside and a screen appeared with Cid's face on it.

"Ready for launch" she said

"Alright, releasing hooks now." Cid said to her

Kira felt a jolt as the hooks holding her ship in place released. The thrusters started up and turned her around.

"See ya around Cid." Kira said as she leaned down over the console and pushed the handles forward thrusting off into the spacy landscape.

"First destination, Wonderland. My objective, elimate the massive heartless that's been terrorizing the area."


	3. Wonderland

The Road to the Heart  
Chapter 3: Wonderland

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters involved except for Kira

Kira flew through the gummi-space, slowly making her way toward her destination, Wonderland, where reports were coming in of a large heartless terrorizing the area. Her objective was to get into Wonderland and defeat this heartless. It sounded simple, except for the part where Heartless were trying to defeat her in the gummi-space. Rumors had been going around that heartless were beginning to form in gummis and would come together to form gummi-ships, it seemed now that a whole fleet of them had formed as they were now trying to destroy her and her gummi-ship. Cid, thinking that there weren't any other gummi-fliers out there, didn't install weapons.

"Cid!" Kira called trying to get him to appear on the screen

The screen widened allowing Cid to see. "What is it?"

"I've got trouble."

"What did you break?" he asked

"Not that kind of trouble. Look." She turned the screen and Cid gasped as he watched the heartless gummi-ships trying to ram and blast Kira's

"What do I do?" Kira asked after Cid turned the screen around

"Dodge, and hope you can make it to Wonderland, when you get there warp the ship back to me. I'll put some weapons on her for ya."

"Thanks Cid. I will." Kira told him before ending the transmission. "Alright, I just have to dodge hundreds of blasts, ships, and heartless. Sure, sounds easy."

Kira pushed forward on the thrusters blasting forward toward Wonderland, blasts and heartless ships flashed past her. After three minutes of this everything silenced. Kira looked around and saw that the heartless ships had disappeared. In front of her on her display was the world of Wonderland.

She sighed in relief "I made it."

"Now," Kira said as she set her face in a determined look "To get rid of this heartless problem."

When she finished locking the gummi ship in place she warped it back to Traverse Town so Cid could take a look at it.

She turned around and noticed a long and twisting hallway in front of her. She quickly found her way through and found herself in a large room. At the far end was a door. Kira approached it and went to grab the doorknob.

"Mexuse me!" a muffled voice shouted

Kira froze "Who's there?" She asked looking around

"You're squishing me with this large frying-pan you call a hand." The voice said

Kira looked down at the doorknob and immediately let go seeing that it had a face on it.

"I'm… sorry." She said a little cautiously "I've never had the doorknob speak to me before."

"Obviously you're not from around here." The doorknob told her

"No, I'm not."

"Well, you might want to speak to the queen before you try to open my door." The knob told her

"Queen?"

"The Queen of hearts, you can find her through that door over there." The doorknob threw his eyes to his right and Kira followed his gaze noticing a large black hole in the wall.

"Thanks." She said holding up a hand and entering the hole.

The doorknob huffed "Well, I'm going to…" he yawned "Take a nap…"

Kira entered a dark room, putting her hand to the wall and the other in front of her so she could tell where she was going.

"Man it's dark in here." She said when she suddenly felt the floor give way.

She screamed in surprise as she fell to the ground beneath her. She looked around rubbing her backside "That hurt…" she whined as she noticed that she surrounded by forest and greenery. "Where am I?" she asked

"Oh, I'm late." A voice said behind her

She turned around and watched a white rabbit dart past. "What the?"

"I'm late, I'm late, I'm very, very, late!" The rabbit shouted as it continued to run.

Kira pushed herself up and ran after it. "Wait! Where are you going?" She shouted at it

"I can't wait, because I'm late for a very important date!" The rabbit called back

"That doesn't mean you can stop to let me catch up!" She shouted

"No, no, no I can't!" It called

Kira continued to run after it eventually arriving in a clearing. Ahead of her it was guarded by two men who had the bodies of cards and large spears. Beyond them was another clearing where there was a court stand and a large woman was sitting in a seat placed high in the air, the rabbit from earlier darted up to a seat on her left.

In front of them in the stand was a young girl with long blond hair wearing a blue dress.

"What's going on here?" Kira asked herself as she sat down in the shadows to watch.

"Alice, you have been accused of not-playing with the queen, the penalty for this crime is death. The court here has found you guilty!" the rabbit stated

"What?" Kira asked in surprise. "That's no crime."

"What do you have for last words?" The rabbit asked

"I have to say that this is the most ridiculous trial I have ever been in." Alice said

"That a girl Alice." Kira said from the bushes

"You dare insult her majesty!" The rabbit declared

"I didn't insult her. I'm insulting this court." Alice said

"The queen is this court!" The rabbit shouted

"What?" Alice asked

"What?" Kira said from the shadows "Alright, enough of this." Kira stood and approached the stand

"Who are you?" The queen asked

"I am Kira, wielder of the keyblade known as 'The Road to the Heart!" Kira shouted

"Why are you here?" The queen asked

"I'm here to defend Alice!"

"How? You weren't at the scene of the crime!"

"What crime!" Kira shouted

"The crime of refusing to play with me." The queen stated

"That's not a crime!"

"It is!" the queen shouted

"Then why don't you play with me!" Kira shouted at her

"What shall we play?" the queen asked

"How about… let Alice go." Kira stated

"Fine, what are the rules." The queen asked

"No one named Alice can be around when we play." Kira stated

"Easy enough, Alice dear, why don't you go on and play." The queen said waving her hand at Alice

Alice curtseyed "Of course my queen." She said

She turned and mouthed to Kira "Thank you."

Kira nodded and looked to the queen.

"Now what?" The Queen asked

"You won." She stated turning away.

"That's it? That's a boring game." The queen stated

Kira grinned as she walked away.

Kira eventually returned to the room with the doorknob. She approached it and grasped the knob again.

"Excuse me, haven't we been through this already?" He asked

"Yes, but I need your help." She told him

"What is it child, I'm trying to sleep." The doorknob stated

"I want to know about a certain heartless." She told him

"A heartless, is that what you call those creatures?"

"Have you see them?"

"Yes, I am right now."

Kira's eyes widened and she turned on the spot summoning "The Road to the Heart" she whipped it through the air seeing a 'Large Body' form (Large Body, a round heartless with the insignia on it's chest and a crimson jacket on its body. It's so round that it's fat forms a natural shield deflecting physical attacks)

She rushed forward and swung at its large body. The attack bounced back as the fat jiggled from the impact.

"What the?" She said in surprise.

The large heartless held out its arms and swung one way then the other sending Kira flying into the wall.

"Fine, you wanna play like that. Fire." She aimed the keyblade tip at the heartless' body and released a small fireball which flew through the air into its gut. It stumbled back then looked at her . It slapped its stomach and rushed forward a barrier of energy forming around its stomach.

"Uh oh…" Kira said dodge rolling away. "I'm starting to feel tired… maybe that fire spell wasn't a good idea." She said as she dodged again. She tried swinging one more time only for it to be deflected by the fat.

She collapsed to one knee "What am I gonna do? My magic is too weak… wait… The Spellbinder!"

Kira held her arm out and her keyblades switched places, her pink heart taking the place of the tome at the end of her bracelet. She rushed forward now and aimed the keyblade at the Large Body "Freeze!" an ice crystal in the shape of a diamond flew from the tip of the keyblade and drilled itself into the Large Body's stomach dissipating it.

"Phew, that was close." Kira said as she dissipated the keyblade. She reached into her sack and produced an ether, she drank the blue colored liquid and immediately felt rejuvenated. "Well, now that that's settled."

"I wasn't referring to that Heartless." The doorknob said

"What?" Kira turned and saw that a large heartless had appeared.

"That's the beast I was referring to." The doorknob stated

"What is that thing? Is it… the Trickmaster!" (The Trickmaster is the boss heartless of Wonderland, it is tall, has a black body and wears a large alternating black and gold top hat, at the top layer is where the heartless insignia lies. It juggles two lit torches which it uses for close range and long-range attacks)

The Trickmaster put the torch near its mouth and leant back its head. Throwing it forward it pushed the flames off the torch into a jet of fire aimed at Kira. She dodge rolled out of the way and summoned "The Road to the Heart"

"Alright Big Guy, prepare to face my keyblade!" She shouted rushing forward and lifted it above her head and bring it down in a slash at Trickmaster's feet. It flicked its foot sending her flying into the wall.

"Ow…" She groaned as she slid to the floor in a heap. She used the blade to push herself up. "Freeze!" She called launching the ice crystal at Trickmaster. It took the hit and shivered before holding the torch near the impacted area. It shivered again and looked at Kira breathing fire once more. Kira dodged.

"What am I gonna do? That Fire prevents Ice-based attacks. It'll probably absorb Fire-based. Lightning maybe, or should I attack it head on? No, it flicked me away like I was nothing. Maybe… maybe I'm in over my head again…" Kira wondered to herself

As she came to her conclusion her bracelet began to glow. "What the?" She asked looking at it. When the light faded she didn't have any keychains on her bracelet, and her keyblade had changed drastically. No longer was it "The Road to the Heart", but it had some pieces that looked reminiscent of it, as well as those of the "Spellbinder". It was light blue, and in design similar to the Spellbinder, but its back blade was black. At the tip the Spellbinder's spokes had been replaced with Kira's and the guard was the color yellow, but looked similar to both guards. At the bottom was the keychain, an interlinked alternating piece of orange and pink. At the bottom was a tome with a heart in the center of the cover.

"What is this?" She asked hefting it in a mock swing, it felt perfect for her. She grabbed the handle with both hands and gave it a swing. "This is perfect. And I have the perfect name… 'The Road to Wisdom" she lifted the keyblade above her head as she said the name and it glowed, almost as if in response to her title. She looked at Trickmaster and grinned.

"Now, I have my true weapon, and you're gonna fear it!" She rushed forward and dodged one of the fire-breathing attacks. She slammed the blade in its head, then came from the left and spun smacking it again. "Fire" she aimed the keyblade at its heartless Insignia, the attack fired and hit it head on. The symbol cracked and the Trickmaster began to dissipate eventually turning into a heart and floating away.

"Well done young lady." The Queen's voice echoed across the room.

Kira turned to her and she approached her with a keychain dangling from her hand.

"Is that?"

"I don't know what it is, but another stranger came years ago and left it to me saying that I should give it to another wielder of a strange weapon. Yours is as strange as they come I suppose, so here." She handed the keychain to Kira who dissipated "The Road to Wisdom" and re-summoned the new keyblade. It was a solid purple in handle and blade, the guard was pink and was shaped similiarly to a harp with two sparkles casting it together. At the top was a yellow heart, the spoke was formed by pink hearts (Like those from a card), the keychain was the same purple as the handle and blade, and at the end was an Ace of Hearts card.

"The stranger said it was known as 'Lady Luck" The queen told her "I loved the heart so I kept the card close to me, but I think you need it more than I do."

"Thank you your majesty." Kira said bowing to her

"Ah, young lady, you curtsey to a queen." The rabbit told her

Kira just started laughing, eventually the others joined in.

Meanwhile, at Traverse Town. Cid stood up and wiped his brow with his arm "There, now I have her weapons installed."

Cid backed up with a grin. The whole ship was weapon gummis.

"Just wait until she gets a load of this. I'll send her a picture right away." He stepped inside "Now, how do I get in here…" he eventually found his way inside. "Now where's the computer… Wait… I took that out to install the Ultima gummi… Hm, maybe all weapons wasn't such a great idea…" He said to himself while looking over the ship. "Guess I better start from scratch."


	4. Olympus Coliseum

The Road to the Heart  
Chapter 4: Olympus Coliseum

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters involved except for Kira

After leaving Wonderland Kira set her sights on the Olympus Coliseum. Cid sent her the improved ship that had the weapon gummies installed.

"Now, off to Olympus!" Kira shouted as she departed the Wonderland Gummi-Port.

"Don't get too excited now kid. There's still a long way to go to get to the Coliseum. By the way, Merlin asked me to check on you to see how your magic is coming along." Cid asked

"Oh yeah, in all the commotion I forgot about them." Kira said as she reached into her bag and pulled out the "Guide to Magic: Aero"

"Well, he says you need to get going on reading 'em. You don't know when you'll need 'em." Cid told her

"Alright, I'll get started right away." She said as she opened the book and shut off the screen.

After reading the spell in its entirety she had a feeling she understood the concept. "Alright, now. Where am I?" She asked

She checked the map and it said she was close to Olympus Coliseum.

"Close, well. I suppose that'll work." She said before she gripped the controls and pushed them forward, jetting off toward the Coliseum.

Once she arrived she docked the ship and disembarked. She arrived in a large courtyard. Before her was a huge building with two giant, gold, gladiators crossing their swords above the door. It was being supported by pillars that bared an ancient Greek style. Kira approached and pushed open the double doors. Inside was a small, hairy man. Kira approached him and tapped him on the shoulder.

He jumped and turned immediately "Who's the big man thinking he can-" He stopped himself seeing that it was Kira.

"Hello, my name is Kira. I'm here on a quest."

"Quest? What kind of quest would that be young lady?" The man asked

"I'm hunting the heartless, have you seen any?" She asked

"If you mean those freaky black things then yeah, I've seen loads of 'em. In fact, I just sent Herc to deal with a few."

"Oh, well, do you know where he is?" She asked

"Yeah, but I'm not gonna let a total stranger rush in their after him, especially a defenseless girl like yourself." He said

"My name is Kira, wielder of 'The Road to the Heart" She summoned her Keyblade for emphasis.

"Well Kira, that's a fancy lookin' sword and all, but that still doesn't prove to me that you're hero enough to get in there." He said

"What do I need to do to prove to you uh… what was your name?"

"Phil, name's Phil. Satyr, and trainer of heroes."

"Alright Phil, what do I need to do to prove to you I'm hero enough?" Kira asked

As she asked this the doors opened revealing a young man with spiky blond hair wearing armor and a cape.

He approached Phil and showed him a piece of paper.

"Alright kid, go on in." Phil said

The man nodded and put the paper away before entering the coliseum.

"So, all I need is one of those ticket things?" Kira asked

"Yeah." Phil said plainly

"Alright. Be back in a bit." Kira turned and left running into the courtyard and right into somebody's chest.

She fell to the ground and rubbed her head "I'm sorry, really, really, sorry."

"It's alright little girl." A voice said to her

She looked up into the face of a man, he had blue skin and blue fire for hair. He was wearing a black toga that was held together by a skull button (?)

"Who are you?" Kira asked

"The name's Hades, lord of the undead. At your service." He gave her a bow

"Well Hades, It's nice to meet you, but I'm kinda in a hurry. I've gotta get one of those ticket things before Phil doesn't let anyone else in."

"Slow down girly. I've got one of those." Hades flicked his fingers producing a ticket for her to see.

Kira gasped "Can I have it?" She asked

"Of course. Here you go, have fun." Hades said handing her the ticket and turning her around, giving her an encouraging push.

"Thanks." She said before rushing back inside.

"Anytime my dear… anytime…" Hades said darkly before disappearing in a burst of fire.

Kira ran in and showed Phil the ticket who confirmed its authenticity, and let her inside. Inside she spotted tons of Heartless, and the boy from before, and another man, wearing full Greek battle-gear with a sword at his hip and an inhuman glow about him.

"Who are you?" Kira asked approaching him

"Me? I'm Hercules. You new around here?" He asked

"Yes, first time." She told him

"Ah, well let me give you some advice." Hercules bent down so he could look at her eye-to-eye "Don't let your opponent make your moves, you need to make theirs." He said

"Thanks… I think." Kira said as Hercules stood up.

"Of course, anything for an aspiring Hero." Hercules turned and walked away as Phil announced the first bout.

Hercules stepped into the large square while four heartless, three shadows and a soldier walked in from the other side. After a fierce battle, Hercules dispatched the heartless. Next Phil announced someone named Cloud, and another group of Heartless. The young spiky, blond haired boy stood and entered the arena. He dealt with them before they knew what was going on. Phil announced Kira next. She stepped inside the arena and on the other side three shadows, a soldiers, and a red rhapsody entered. (Red Rhapsody. Red heartless with hourglass bodies. Their faces are concealed by a straw-hat looking appendage that bears their heartless symbol. They're known for powerful Fire-based attacks)

"Alright, no fire magic. Don't want to hit that Rhapsody." Kira said summoning The Road to the Heart.

She rushed forward and slashed downward smashing a shadow into the ground. She brought it up, uppercutting another shadow. She swung from the left, in a spiral hitting the third shadow, and the soldier. She leapt into the air and slashed down once hitting the Rhapsody. The three shadows dipped into the ground becoming completely flat. Kira rushed for the soldiers swinging once and dispatching it. She was hit in the back by a fire spell that the rhapsody had been charging.

"Fine, you wanna play like that?" She asked "Wind" She held her keyblade above her head and a small shield of wind appeared around her. The three shadows leapt at her at once and dispersed on the shield. She rushed forward and swung hitting the rhapsody with both shield and keyblade, dispersing it.

Kira grinned as people cheered. She let the keyblade fade and bowed to them before returning to her seat. She watched the rest of the day go on like that, Hercules, Cloud, Her, and the Heartless competing in the tournament. After the day was done it was down to her, Hercules, Cloud, and a Heartless group that had one all the matches yesterday known as "The Dog Boys". Kira was curious about them and hoped she wouldn't have to go against them.

As she fell into bed on her gummi-ship that night she was thinking back to what happened in Wonderland.

"When I faced the Trickmaster, my keyblades seemed to… fuse… I wonder if it wasn't a one time deal." She said curiously. "Oh well, that's a matter for another time. It's time for bed." She rolled over and yawned deeply before falling asleep.

The next day Kira awoke and headed for the Coliseum. She was the third to arrive, and immediately noticed the bracket. She was to face Cloud first, then Hercules against "The Dog Boys".

"Alright." Kira said walking out onto the field. People were filling the stands. It seemed there were more today than yesterday, probably because they knew there were less heartless and more people who could stop them in case something happened.

Kira stepped into the arena as her name was called on the far side Cloud stepped into place. Phil shouted go and the two were off. Kira blocked a slash from Cloud's giant blade. The force nearly knocking her to her knees. She swung once in retaliation, but he leapt back with practiced ease.

Hercules was watching from next to Phil. "Are you sure this was a good idea Phil? I mean, this Cloud guy seems a little tough for someone as new as Kira."

"She'll be fine Champ. Just watch, she's got the makings of a hero." Phil replied

Kira leapt to her left dodging the attack from Cloud. She swung down once hitting him on the head. He leapt back and began to lift into the air. He sprouted a black wing and rushed forward slashing her as he went. Again and again this happened until Cloud set back down and brushed his bangs. Kira was feeling dangerously weak. She knew the rules stated no items so she was stuck.

Cloud walked up to her and lifted his sword. Before he swung down Kira could have sworn she heard him say "Sorry."

She was knocked out and had to be carried by two medics that were standing by. They carried her to the infirmary where the doctors took a look at her, bandaging wounds and cleaning infections. Kira woke up 10 minutes later and looked outside to see Hercules fighting a large black dog. The people were running out of the coliseum. She tried to run, but felt an immense shock of pain. She looked down to see her bandaged side. "Cure" She said healing her wounds. She summoned her keyblade and rushed into the crowd.

Hercules dodged an attack from Cerberus and grabbed one of its three heads. He slammed it into another and leapt back as they dropped to the ground. Kira arrived at that time and saw the giant black dog, the fact the people had left became apparent as heartless were now roaming the stands. She looked around and spotted Hades sitting up in the top row of seats. She rushed to him

"Mister Hades, why are you doing this?" She asked "I thought you were the nice guy."

Hades laughed "Me? Nice? Girly, since when has the ruler of the undead ever been Nice?" he asked

She remained quiet. "Exactly, now move. I'm trying to watch Hercules get slaughtered."

Kira turned on her heels and rushed down, jumping from the stands onto Cerberus' back. She dismissed her keyblade and grabbed a handful of hair causing it to yowl in pain, leaving an opening for one of Hercules' power punches. He swung in preparation and Kira jumped down. He swung in a perfect uppercut and sent Cerberus flying. Hades yelled and appeared before them, his skin now red, as was his flames for hair.

"You haven't seen the last of me boy-wonder!" He shouted

Kira stepped forward "And you! Don't think I've forgotten about you!" Hades shouted before disappearing

Hercules turned to Kira "Thanks for the help back there. I think I was beginning to wear down."

"No problem. It's what heroes are for." She said

"A, a. Junior Hero." Phil said as he approached, a small box under his arm.

"Aw come on Phil, she just helped save the Coliseum."

"Nope, can't do it Herc. Doesn't work that way, but I can officially dub you Junior hero." Phil said handing Kira a roll of parchment. She opened it and it read in big letters

"Kira, Official Junior Hero"

"Thanks Phil." She said rolling it up and putting it away.

"Don't thank me yet." Phil said handing her the box

"What is it?" She asked shaking it

"Don' know. Some guy came by and said to give it to 'someone like me" Phil explained

Kira opened the box and sitting on the red velvet inside was a keychain. It was blue with a gold coin at the bottom. Kira picked it up and swung her arm out summoning a keyblade. It had a bone white, square guard with two flexing muscles extending from the upper-corners. The blade was black and flowing, Greek writing was engraved in the bone-white center blade. At the top was a large spoke that matched the rest of the blade.

"I think he said it was called the 'Olympia" Phil said

Kira nodded inspecting the keyblade. She sensed amazing power coming from it.

"Also, we're gonna be starting up a couple tournaments here pretty soon. We'd be happy to have you in 'em." Phil offered.

Kira dismissed Olympia and nodded to Phil. "I'd be happy to participate. Just tell me when."

Phil nodded "Alright then."

Kira, after saying her farewells made her way onto her gummi-ship where she dislodged from the port and set the ship to auto-pilot to "Deep Jungle" While she cracked open the next spell-book "Guide to Magic: Gravity"


	5. Traverse Town Revisited

The Road to the Heart  
Chapter 5: Traverse Town revisited

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters involved except for Kira

Kira docked the gummi-ship in the port and sighed as she looked at the world around her. It was Traverse Town. She'd been needing to come back. Namely to visit Leon and see if she could beat him this time, but it wouldn't hurt to check in with the others while she was here, especially Merlin. To see if there was anything he could teach her while she was here.

"I'm not gonna get anything done sitting here." Kira said as she leapt out of the seat and disembarked onto the world below.

She looked around and was surprised to see that there was no one there to greet her. Normally the streets were packed with people. She took a few steps forward when the sound of warping space signaled a heartless appearing.

"Heartless? In the First District?" She asked as she summed her keyblade. She turned to face three shadows. She swung down on one of their heads and dispelled it. Another lunged at her, but she dodged. "Fire" She aimed the tip at the shadow and it was destroyed. She spun with her arm extended catching the last heartless in the side of the head. She looked around as she dispelled the keyblade.

"Hello!" She called, answered only by her own echo.

"Ah, Kira." A familiar voice said behind her.

She turned toward the center of town "Leon!" She shouted seeing him standing there, his gunblade shouldered as usual.

"What are you doing here?" Leon asked

"I came to visit." She told him "I didn't know the situation in town was so bad. You should've called me."

"If we called you we knew you'd come running, and you saving our town is pointless compared to saving other worlds. We have three defenders here. Other worlds don't even have one. We can handle a few shadows"

"Oh yeah? Well then why don't you let me be the judge of that?" Kira asked

Leon sighed defeated, "Fine, knock yourself out." He turned and left

Kira made her way to the second district, known for its shops and the inn where Aerith stayed. She looked around and saw nothing at first, but as she stepped into the district square she was attacked by a large body and three soldiers. She immediately aimed the keyblade at the large body "Fire" She released the magic spell and the fat heartless bounced back. She swung from the left of the soldier next to her and dispelled it. She swung overhead and smashed the second soldier. She caught movement out of the corner of her eye and lifted the keyblade putting her hand behind the blade to guard from the charging attack of the large body. As it bounced away she cast another fire spell destroying it. She turned to the last soldier that dispelled at her gaze. In its place, a large shuriken* Yuffie appeared and retrieved her weapon.

"What are you doing here Kira?" Yuffie asked

"Is it so weird for a friend to come and pay her friends a visit?" Kira asked, noting the tone Yuffie used with her, the exact same one as Leon.

"No, but. I mean, you have responsibilities as the key-bearer to help defend other worlds."

"I know that, but how can I defend other worlds if I don't become stronger? I don't think the heartless are gonna keep letting me whack 'em when I walk in."

"True, so that's why you came back?"

"Yes, to train with Leon and Merlin to get stronger. Sheesh."

"Sorry." Yuffie said holding up her hands in defense "Well, I don't know if this is true or not, but there's supposed to be a bigger heartless in the third district. Some people claim it's the leader of the Traverse Town Heartless."

"Alright, I'll go check it out. Thanks Yuffie." Kira turned and rushed off for the Third District waving to her friend as she left.

Kira pushed open the large double wooden doors that led to the third district, notable locations here were the 'TTDH' or 'Traverse Town Defenders Headquarters' and Merlin's scroll that hid his house, openable only if you used a fire spell. Kira wandered into the large square part of the district when she heard a clanking sound.

"What is that?" She asked looking around "it sounds like." She looked up and leapt back as a large pile of armor dropped to the ground "armor…"

Kira summoned her keyblade as the armor began to float and take the form of a person, sort of. "This must be the boss heartless." Kira said

(Guard Armor, the boss heartless of Traverse Town. It uses its floating gauntlets and hammerlegs to attack from varying distances, it collapses into pieces when it sustains enough damage. Its heartless emblem is on the chest plate)

Kira rushed forward swinging wildly as she dealt damage to Guard Armor. In retaliation it turned to its left and swung to its right, then back. Swiping its gauntlets and sending Kira flying. She landed and looked up at it, thinking. "Fire" She aimed the tip and fired releasing the small ball of flames that exploded on impact with the Guard Armor's chest-plate. It didn't seemed phased.

Kira pushed herself up and glared at Guard Armor. She rushed forward again swinging in random, haphazard patterns, hitting the Guard Armor, it eventually collapsed to the ground in pieces. Kira ran from piece to piece attacking like crazy hoping to destroy it, but after a minute the pieces came to life and began to lift, forming a whirling tornado that slapped, and stomped Kira. She fell back and drank one of her potions, feeling restored she thought about her current situation as the Guard Armor reformed.

"What do I do? It's obviously taking minimal damage from my attacks, and magic doesn't seem to do a lot either." Kira was debating her options when a voice called

"Use the keyblade"

Kira growled back "I am"

"Not that, use the _real_ keyblade" the voice returned

"Real keyblade? What does that mean?" Kira asked as she thought about what the voice had said to her, it was then that the memory returned.

_She was fighting the Trickmaster, and things looked bleak when all of a sudden her keyblade began to glow. She looked past the light when it faded and found she was wielding an all new keyblade._

"_A new keyblade?" She looked up at Trickmaster "Now you'll know the full strength of my power. I have the perfect name for this keyblade, The Road to Wisdom!"_

Kira thought about that moment and what happened

"Kira! Watch out!" Leon called from above.

Kira snapped out of her trance and rolled away just in time to dodge a smash from Guard Armor.

"Now I know what I've got to do." Kira said to herself holding out her hand with The Road to the Heart.

"My name is Kira, wielder of 'The Road to the Heart' keyblade. You will fall by my hand." She told Guard armor as her keyblade began to glow. When it faded she was holding a new keyblade. It was white with the body of the Olympia, and it had the spokes of The Road to the Heart, in marble white. The guard was a mix of her original, but it had the flexing muscles of the Olympia the keychain was in style with the Olympia's, but it was gray like The Road to the Heart, the emblem at the bottom was a gold coin with a pink heart in the center.

"I present to you, The Road to Strength!" Kira shouted as she rushed forward and smashed the keyblade into Guard Armor's foot, destroying it. She swung out to her right and dissipated the other foot. She leapt up and, aiming a stroke at the left hand, destroyed it as well. Then the right, and finally, the head. Which defeated the heartless. Its whole body began to shake as it lifted into the air and exploded, releasing a pink heart that floated away harmlessly.

While it floated away a glittering object fell to the ground. Kira walked over and picked it up, it was a keychain made of pure silver with a mouse's head at the bottom. She summoned the keyblade and it had a handle exactly like her keyblade, only instead of gray this one was yellow. The handle was a dark gray, the blade a lighter shade. The spokes were a mix of guards and what looked like a crown.

"That's the Kingdom Key, the most basic keyblade for all wielders." Leon explained as she made his way down the stairs from Headquarters.

"The Kingdom Key." Kira said examining it

Leon sighed "Well, it seems I owe you an apology for trying to dismiss you so early. I thought you'd come back as a failure, but I was wrong. You're stronger than I'd ever hoped you'd be." Leon told her "Keep growing in your strength, and nothing will be able to stand in your way."

Kira nodded "Thanks, that means a lot coming from you."

Leon grinned, and they stood there for a moment before a voice broke the silence.

"Hold it! Hold everything!"

Kira looked over to see Merlin approaching them.

"Merlin!" Kira shouted gleefully

"Ah my dear Kira. How are you faring in your venture?" he asked

"I'm doing great. I've learned all except the last spell from the books you gave me."

"Excellent. I knew you were a quick study." Merlin told her. "But I have something else for you now." He said handing her a stone

"What is it?" She asked

"It's what I like to call a 'Summoning Stone' if you bring any stones like these to me that you find on your quest. I'll revive them, you see, these stones are almost like those gummis that Cid is always playing with. They allow people from other worlds to travel the Gummiverse safely, but the problem is they're only made when a strong will is forced out of its world when the Heartless take over." Merline explained

Kira nodded her understanding as Merlin revived the stone. In front of Kira appeard a small deer. It looked around at the lights in a frightened manner, but Kira eventually calmed it. She found its name was Bambi and it agreed to help her whenever called upon, it disappeared and she turned to Merlin.

"Thank you for the gift, but I was wondering if there was anything else you had for me?"

"Let me think, ah yes! I've finally removed all that dust collecting junk in my attic. I've transformed the place into a magic testing ground."

"Anything else?" Kira asked

"Kira… are you asking for more magic?"

"No…" She said innocently

Merlin sighed "Kira, how many times have I told you? Magic is to be experienced, its not all learning."

Kira sighed "I know, but I thought at least you'd have another set of books for me to read."

"I'm sorry Kira, but you're on your own." Merlin told her "Now good luck to you. I must be getting back to the house."

Kira nodded and waved to Merlin as he left. She told Leon she had to be leaving soon as well, and after goodbyes between her and the 'TTD' she left in her Gummi Ship for whatever world awaited her.


	6. Deep Jungle

The Road to the Heart  
Chapter 6: Deep Jungle

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters involved except for Kira

After departing from Traverse Town Kira set her sights on another world, known as 'Deep Jungle'.

"I wonder what I'll get from this world." Kira stated looking down at her right wrist, enjoying the jingling sound of the five key chains.

"So many different styles of keyblade. I wonder how many there are…"

Kira continued to stare the key chains until an alarm suddenly blared. "What the?" She asked looking around "What's going on?"

Heartless gummi-ships had surrounded her. "Oh that's just great. I look away for one minute and now I'm under attack. Alright." Kira flipped a pair of lids that were on her control sticks revealing a pair of buttons. She slammed her thumbs down on these and began to fire, dispatching the gummi-ships.

"Well, that was easy." She said as she drove the ship toward the nearest world, Deep Jungle.

She docked her ship and disembarked to the surface below. She appeared in a wooden structure, and examined her surroundings. It was a basic room, large in size and it had old blankets for window curtains. Kira took a step forward when the floor boards collapsed underneath her sending her leg through the floor.

"Whoa!" She screamed. "I've got to get out." She said pushing on the floor trying to dislodge her leg.

She heard the floorboards creek "It's coming loose, great." She said when a growl echoed through the room. She looked up to see a large leopard stalking in the rafters.

"Good kitty… nice kitty…" Kira said calmly and slowly

The leopard barred its fangs at her and growled fiercely.

"That's not good." She said as the leopard lunged at her "Definitely not good!" She tried to summon her keyblade.

Suddenly a blur darted over her head cutting off the leopard and sending it into the wall. Kira stared in amazement at the man who had stopped the giant cat. He reached over and grabbed Kara's arm lifting her clear from the floorboards.

"Thanks." She said to him before summoning her keyblade.

She noticed that he was almost naked, except for a leather loincloth. His long brown hair was running in strips down his back, and his blue eyes were glaring intently at the tiger. In his right hand was a simple spear, a stone blade bound to a wooden shaft with vines.

The leopard darted back at them, now that it had recovered its feet. Kira lifted her keyblade up and blocked the strike, the blade lodging itself into the leopard's mouth. Kira pushed back, launching the leopard onto the floor.

The strange rushed forward, brandishing his spear, ready to strike. The leopard leaped forward, locking its claws with the shaft of his spear. "Fire!" A fireball flew past the stranger and hit the leopard head on; it reeled back, clawing at its burning fur.

The Stranger made some indecipherable noises before grabbing Kira and dragging her out of the tree house. As they ran out the door Kira noticed how the structure was in ruins, as if it'd been left there for years, and it had been unattended. The Stranger ran into the jungle nearby and they disappeared. As they rushed through the trees and vines they whipped and tore at Kara's clothing and her face, when they emerged from the clustered wildlife they were in a clearing, around them a bamboo looking tree formed a thin screen around the a camp that was set up in the clearing, tents of all shapes and sizes, as well as a few tables some empty, and some with an assortment of tools on them were scattered everywhere.

"What is this place?" Kira asked as the Stranger set her down.

"Jane's." The Stranger said.

Kira turned to him in surprise, so he could speak, albeit barely.

"Jane's?" Kira asked, pointing at the camp.

The Stranger nodded. He pointed at Kira, "Jane's… friend?"

Kira shook her head. She held out her hand "friend?" She asked him.

He looked at her hand, then up at her face, she was smiling, some minor cuts all along her face and her hands, but she was smiling. He reached out his free hand and Kira grabbed it shaking once, firmly.

The Stranger looked up at her, his face now stern in a friendly sort of way. He nodded once, "Friends".

"Tarzan! Oh thank heavens!" A woman's voice called across the clearing.

Kira and Tarzan let go of each other's hands and turned to look at the approaching woman. She was wearing a white tank top with a red skirt that was tied in a knot her right hip, she had long brown hair that came down the middle of her back. She gasped as she saw Kira.

"Are you alright?" The woman asked.

"I'm fine, a little cut up from the jungle, but I'm not hurt beyond that." Kira told her.

She smiled at her. "That's good, why don't you come into my tent, I'll patch you up straight away, and maybe give you some new clothes, yours seem in need of replacing." The woman told her.

Kira looked down to see her pants, shirt, and jacket were pretty torn. She looked back up at the woman and smiled weakly.

"I suppose I'm due a change of clothes." She said before following the stranger.

As they walked over to the woman's tent she looked back at Kira.

"I'm Jane by the way." She said.

"Kira, my name is Kira." She said with a smile.

"Kira, an interesting name." Jane said as she pulled back a tent flap.

Kira walked past her and saw the tent was pretty dark, it was lit only be a single candle in the middle of the room. Jane followed her in and pointed to a chair near a table that was set out of the way in a corner. Kira walked over and sat down, she looked around a little more to see the tent was scarcely furnished; a couch was on the other end of the tent across from her, a bed was in the corner opposite the bed.

She watched Jane for a minute as she applied a healing salve to her face and arms, then apply bandages to the more threatening areas. Kira thought she could've just used her cure spell, but it probably would've been easier going if they didn't know she was keyblade wielder yet. While Jane was working on patching up her wounds she took the time to answer a few questions.

"Jane is it?" She asked

Jane nodded as she applied the salve to a particularly nasty cut on Kara's right arm.

"I was wondering, have you perhaps seen any strange black creatures around her lately?" Kira asked.

"You mean the Gorillas?" Jane asked.

"No, something a little more, hostile?" She asked, treading carefully.

"Oh, well, there have been some of these monkey looking creatures, they attack randomly and then disappear. Almost as if they're looking for something." Jane said.

"Interesting…" Kira said to herself.

"There, all done." Jane said standing up.

Kira looked down at her arms, for the most part all of the smaller scratches had disappeared, and anything larger that wasn't taken care of with the healing salve was now bandaged tightly. She looked up at Jane and opened her mouth to thank her when Jane held up a hand.

Kira closed her mouth slowly and then she heard an all too familiar sound, the sound of space being torn as Heartless appeared.

Kira rushed out of the tent to see a large group of black monkey looking heartless.

"Powerwilds…" (Powerwilds are monkey like heartless that use their claws in a cycling barrage for powerful combo attacks as they charge toward, then away from their targets)

She summoned her keyblade and charged in. She swung in an overhead strike destroying one of the heartless. Three more grouped around her and darted past her, slashing her to pieces with their claws. She swung in a full arc destroying them all in one swing as they came back around. She noticed an orange female looking heartless a little further away (Bouncywilds are another breed of monkey heartless that are smaller and more agile than their Powerwild counterparts; they use a slingshot to launch projectiles at enemies). She charged through the group of Powerwilds, the orange one noticed her charge and darted away, shooting little rocks at her the whole time. Kira stopped and blocked the attacks with her keyblade "Fire!" She aimed the tip of her keyblade and fired the spell; it locked onto the Bouncywild and hit it, dissipating it. She turned with a slash as three more Powerwilds attempted to attack her, they were immediately destroyed. She looked up and glared at the remaining heartless, she was panting heavily from exertion. She grabbed the handle with both hands and held it slightly behind her to the right.

"If you've got more, bring it on!" She shouted at them.

They charged at her, swinging their claws rapidly, she lifted her keyblade to block the attacks and felt the force slam into her as the group of Powerwilds closed the distance. A dark blur flew past and the Powerwilds disappeared. Kira looked up to see Tarzan on a nearby tree, his spear held loosely in his grip. Kira smiled before charging into the group of Powerwilds, cutting them down as she ran toward the center. When she was in the middle of the mob she raised her keyblade above her head. "Thunder!" A rain of lightning came down and destroyed the Powerwilds, the few remaining Bouncywilds saw their defenses were gone and disappeared.

Kira let her keyblade dissipate and nodded once before dropping to one knee.

"Kira!" Jane shouted running over.

She was gasping for breath, her body covered in new slashes and grazes from the battle. She looked up at Jane.

"I'm alright, just overexerted is all." Kira said as Tarzan dropped down, "You're pretty good at that." She looked to Tarzan.

"Yes, he's been keeping those monsters at bay for some time now, but I fear it's been in vein as their numbers grow every day." Jane explained.

Kira nodded "That sounds like them. They have a boss around here somewhere. Tarzan, do you have idea where a bigger version of the heartless could be?" She asked him.

He nodded, making more indecipherable noises and starting to hop away toward a hole in the trees.

"Wait Tarzan." Jane said to him, she looked down at Kira helping her to her feet. "You're in no condition to fight those things, and if what you say is true then you won't be able to handle a bigger one."

Kira considered her words for a moment then closed her eyes and nodded.

"Alright." She looked to Jane.

Jane led her back into the tent and patched up her wounds again. Kira waited two day as Jane repaired her outfit and to let her wounds heal. She didn't leave the tent much except at night to train her skills. After two days Jane presented the full repaired outfit to Kira who nodded her thanks, she'd been wearing Jane's spares for the past few days and they were pretty baggy on her. She exited the tent and saw Tarzan waiting for her. He'd been learning to speak English from Jane during the past two days and he could speak somewhat fluently.

"Ready?" he asked, holding out his hand.

She nodded and took it, her key chains clinking on her wrist. The pair set off toward the area Tarzan had designated. As they left the clearing they entered a thick jungle track, where vines had grown over the path over the years and the trees blotted out the sun as they reached high into the sky. Kira looked around; expecting an ambush, but it came to nothing as they stepped out into another clearing. It was a small circular valley with a small cliff rising up on the right side, coming just below the ring of the hole. She saw the sky on one side.

"Where is it?" Kira asked summoning her keyblade.

Tarzan grunted and indicated the wall of the clearing near the sky. Kira nodded and took a step toward it when suddenly the wall exploded and a giant Chameleon like Heartless. It was a mix of yellow and green and had a large horn on its head, the emblem was blazoned on its chest (Stealth Sneak; being able to blend into its surroundings, this heartless waits patiently for its foes to become comfortable before attacking). It looked at them with ever shifting yellow eyes. It roared once and shook the trees, causing birds to take to the sky before it lunged at them. Kira held her keyblade in a defensive stance and Tarzan darted away, the Stealth Sneak caught its horn on her blade and stopped. It lifted its head and released a large pink tongue which wrapped around Kira and lifted her into the air. It disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, leaving Kira falling toward the ground. She thought quickly, not knowing what to do when suddenly Tarzan darted past and caught her, slamming onto a tree branch he set her down. She nodded her thanks before rushing to the end of the tree branch and leaping off, the wind whipped past her face as she fell on the Stealth Sneak. It seemed to disappear and Kira fell to the ground, dropping to one knee.

"What the?" She asked looking around, her head darting from one location to another.

She heard a loud crashing sound and turned to see the Stealth Sneak appear behind her, swinging one of its massive clawed hands at her. She leapt backwards, barely avoiding the attack. She held her keyblade out "Fire!" The spell released from the tip of the keyblade and whistled into the Stealth Sneak's head. It roared as its eyes caught fire, disappearing again. Kira stood up and looked around, listening for the beast.

Tarzan dropped down next to her and the two stood back to back as they waited.

"There!" Kira shouted pointing at a large tree nearby, she'd heard the bark crack.

Tarzan ran on all fours for a few feet before leaping off into the tree, spear first. It drove into the monster's back and it howled in pain as it swatted Tarzan off. Kira held up her left hand and the Olympia appeared. She slammed the two swords together and formed The Road to Strength. She rushed forward, both hands on the heavy blade, swinging it in an uppercut, slicing through the Stealth Sneak's neck, then down again slicing its head. It howled in a feeble challenge before dropping into the ring valley and disappearing, its large heart floating away. Kira let the two keyblades disappear and she reached down as she recognized a keychain on the ground. She picked it up and saw that it was a simple silver chain with a butterfly on the end. She tied it to her bracelet and smiled.

Tarzan dropped down next to her and he looked around for the Stealth Sneak.

"I took care of it." She said.

He nodded and stood up, lowering his spear head. "Jane?" he asked.

"Yeah, we should let her know." Kira said before leading the way back to the camp.

They arrived and Jane came out to meet them. Kira explained what happened and told them that the camp should be safe now as the number of heartless dissipates.

"Tarzan should be able to keep you safe now." She said with a smile.

The two looked at each other and Kira's grin broadened. "I better be going." She said.

"Do come back and visit." Jane told her.

"Don't worry, I will." Kira said before turning and walking away, as she reached the edge of the clearing she held up her right hand, the key chains dangling past her wrist.

She disappeared in a flash of light as the group in the camp lost sight of her. She appeared back on board her Gummi Ship and sat down in the command seat. She turned and saw a new set of worlds had been opened to her. She smiled before setting the engines on. She received a message from Cid.

"Cid, what's up?" Kira asked as Cid appeared on screen.

"Kira, you should come back to Traverse Town, I've perfected two new gummis that should help you out." He told her.

She nodded "I'll make my way there now." She said when suddenly the alarms in her ship began to blare loudly.

"What the?" She asked looking around.

"Kira? What's going on?" Cid asked.

"I don't know, the alarms are all going off." She said looking out the window of the ship.

She gasped, a giant whale was approaching her. "How did that get here?" she asked.

"Kira?" Cid asked her, "What is it?"

"It's a whale!" She shouted as it continued to approach her.

"A whale! Get away from it!" Cid shouted at her.

She swerved her ship away from the giant whale, but to no avail, it opened its mouth and began to suck in air. She kept trying, but eventually she was eaten by the giant whale and disappeared. Cid lost contact with her and he began to worry back at his shop.

"This isn't good." He said to himself.


	7. Monstro

The Road to the Heart  
Chapter 7: Monstro

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters involved except Kira

Kira woke up inside her gummi ship; it was too dark for her to see.

"What happened?" She asked herself as she stood up and held her head.

She looked around and found the escape hatch on her ship. She disembarked and found herself in a giant room with pink walls; all around her the wreckage of ships was abundant.

"Where am I?" She asked looking around. She noticed some movement and summoned her keyblade.

"Don't hurt me!" A young voice called to her.

"Who?" She asked letting the keyblade disappear. She approached the figure and saw it was a young boy, only… it wasn't really a boy. He had wooden joints and was wearing an old fashioned vest with red shorts and a large yellow cap with a blue feather in it.

"Who are you?" She asked.

"I'm Pinocchio." He said smiling.

"Pinocchio?" Kira asked.

"Yep." He said putting his thumb on his chest.

"And you live here, what world is this?"

"Well, I don't really live here. My father and I are staying her because Monstro ate us."

"Monstro? Is that the name of this world?" Kira asked

"World? No, Monstro's a whale." Pinocchio said.

"A whale that would explain what I saw before I crashed." Kira said to herself.

"Are you a gummi pilot?" Pinocchio asked.

"You know about gummis?" Kira asked him in surprise.

"Sure do." He said, suddenly his nose extended.

"What the?" Kira asked.

"Well, I don't really know them, I know about them" Pinocchio said, his nose shrunk back down to its original size.

"What was that just now?"

"Oh, with my nose? Well, you see, my father made me as a puppet, but he always wanted a son, and so the Blue Fairy came and made me into a boy, but she told me I had to be a good boy otherwise I'd be a puppet forever. If I was good though I'd become a real boy." Pinocchio explained.

"Interesting, where is your father now?" Kira asked.

"He's on our boat, come on, I'll take you to him." Pinocchio led the way through the wreckage of ships, leaping and running through them like he knew the layout like the back of his hand. Kira followed him, her weight and height making it difficult to keep up.

After a few hours they arrived at a small boat with a half open cabin, a single candle burned brightly in a lantern on a center post. An old man with gray hair and small glasses was sitting at a table. He wore a white shirt with a brown jacket and black pants. Underneath he had socks that were covered by black buckle shoes. Kira approached with Pinocchio and when the man saw them coming he stood up and ran over to them, taking Pinocchio in his arms and spinning happily.

"Where have you been? I told you not to run off." The man told him.

"But father, I found this girl." Pinocchio said, pointing at Kira.

"It's true; if he hadn't found me I never would've made it here ok." Kira said.

"Even so, you know that you shouldn't run off." The man told him.

"Yes father." Pinocchio said sadly.

"Now go to your bed." The man pointed back at the ship and Pinocchio slunk away, "Do you mind if I ask you who you are, and how you got here." The man asked Kira.

"I don't mind. My name is Kira, and I was flying through the Gummiverse when this giant whale appeared and swallowed me." Kira explained.

"Yes, that sounds like something Monstro would do." The man said sadly.

"Who are you?" Kira asked.

"Me? I'm Gepetto, Pinocchio's father."

"Gepetto, listen, do you know a way out of here?" Kira asked.

"If I did you'd be the second to know." Gepetto told her. "My son and I have been trapped her for years, surviving off of what Monstro swallows."

"That's horrible." Kira said.

"It's not so bad once you get used to it." Gepetto said, leading them back to the cabin and sitting at the table, he gestured for Kira to take a seat.

"What happened to make you like this?" Kira asked, throwing her hands up to indicate Monstro.

"Well, you see, my son, Pinocchio, was on his way to school one day when some strangers told him to got to his place called paradise island. While he was sailing there Monstro swallowed his ship. I found out myself and followed him, suffering the same fate." Gepetto explained.

"Strange." Kira said.

"What's that?" He asked.

"Normally, creatures don't escape their worlds like this one."

"Well, there was a mighty storm the night I went after him, it seemed like the world would end." Gepetto added.

"That would explain it, the Heartless were taking over your world."

"Heartless? Do you mean these black creatures?" Gepetto asked.

"I do, have you seen them?" She asked.

He nodded. "They're all over the place inside Monstro, I thought they were just animals he'd swallowed, but when they attacked us and didn't seem worried about getting out I eventually figured they'd come here. They seem to be searching for something, that's why I tell Pinocchio not to run off." Gepetto told her.

"Yes, they're always searching for something." Kira said to herself. "Anyway, first things first we need to find a way out of here."

"Easier said than done. I've been trying to collect these things called Gummis to escape." He said bringing out a box and showing her a small amount of gummis.

"I have a gummi ship." Kira told him, "We can use that to escape."

"You do?" Gepetto asked.

She nodded. "If we can time it right so that the next time Monstro opens his mouth we can escape."

Gepetto thought about this then nodded. "Alright, that sounds like a good plan, but we should probably make sure your ship works before we try that."

Kira nodded and led the way back to her ship. She and Gepetto worked on it and got it working again. She flew it carefully back to Gepetto's boat, showing him the controls and the mechanisms as he asked. They docked it to Gepetto's ship and waited.

A few days passed with an uneventful boredom. Kira helped Gepetto and Pinocchio gather supplies such as firewood and food from the other ships, defeating Heartless in case they appeared. One day, they awoke to find Pinocchio gone.

"Kira!" Gepetto said, approaching her.

"What is it Gepetto?" Kira asked.

"Pinocchio is missing!" Gepetto cried, "He must have gone deeper into Monstro to try and find more gummis. Please, bring him back safely."

Kira nodded and immediately set off, she made her way deeper into Monstro, eventually she arrived in its stomach. She was in a large tubular chamber, she looked down to see a sea of green below and a few pieces of purple something. She made her way down to the bottom and found Pinocchio. She smiled as she approached him.

"Pinocchio, your father's been worried sick." She said.

He looked up "Don't come any closer! It's a trap!" He shouted.

Immediately a large, pink, cage like Heartless appeared. It had a small pink head with glowing yellow eyes, green tentacles came off its neck and its stomach was a kind of cage, Pinocchio was trapped inside it. (Parasite Cage: It captures its enemies by swallowing them with its mouth like cage stomach, then slowly eats them, letting its prey see the world as it dies)

Kira had leapt back as it emerged. She summoned her keyblade and barely dodged a large blob of the green liquid. It touched her pant leg and it burned through the fabric, destroying it.

"Whoa!" She shouted. "That green stuff is stomach acid, I better be careful." She said to herself.

The Parasite Cage laughed before trying to whip her with the tentacles. She deflected both of them before summoning the Olympian and clashing the two Keyblades together to form The Road to Strength. She rushed forward and slashed at the Parasite Cage's Stomach. It opened for a minute and she reached inside, grabbing Pinocchio's hand she pulled him out just in time as the jaws clamped back down. They landed in the acid and quickly scattered for one of the platforms. Kira's clothes were destroyed.

"Pinocchio, get back to your father, I'll take care of this guy." She said.

He nodded and ran back. Kira began to dodge and beat at the Parasite Cage, as she defeated it she heard a mighty roar and saw her Gummi ship come tumbling down the chamber. She watched it land in the stomach acid, only to be unaffected. She rushed over and got into the cockpit, she activated the engines and sped away, heading toward Monstro's mouth. She flew past Gepetto's ship and saw he and Pinocchio were missing. She landed and looked around, on the table she saw a piece of paper and a gleaming object. She walked over and saw the piece of paper read:

_Dear Kira,_

_Pinocchio told me how he found a treasure trove of gummis and how he had also come up with a plan to escape. We've gone into Monstro's belly and are by now making a fire to cause him to sneeze. Please use this chance to escape, and don't worry about us, we'll make our own escape when the time is right. I left you a key chain for your weapon. I found it one day while looking through a ship's treasure._

_Thank you for your help, and for saving Pinocchio,  
Gepetto_

Kira smiled as she grabbed the keychain, it was a simple chain with a star on the end. She used a pen laying nearby and wrote down next to the part where he mentioned them escaping 'go to Traverse Town, find Cid'. She boarded her Gummi ship and sped through Monstro's mouth, rocketing back out into the Gummiverse. As she came out her communications came back online and she saw Cid preparing a ship in his worshop.

"Cid!" She called.

He looked up, and banged his head on a piece of the ship.

"Kira!" He called as he approached the screen, a large bruise now on his forehead. "What happened with the whale?"

Kira took a deep breath then dove into an explanation of Monstro, Gepetto, and Pinocchio, she also told him about her note to them.

"So, it seems that other people know about Gummis." Cid said, "And we'll help 'em should they show up at our doorstep."

Kira nodded "Thanks Cid, now I believe you said you had a few gummis for me?" She asked.

He nodded "Come on back to Traverse Town and I'll get 'em attached to your ship."

Kira nodded before turning the ship back to Traverse Town and rocketing off.


	8. Agrabah

The Road to the Heart  
Chapter 8: Agrabah

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters involved except Kira.

Kira set off from Traverse Town, her outfit replaced after it was almost destroyed from Monstro's stomach acid, and with two new gummis attached to her ship: The Auto-Pilot and the Warp gummis. As she arrived at where Monstro had swallowed her she continued on and found another world after an hour of travel. She docked her ship and disembarked onto the world.

She appeared in the middle of a desert marketplace. Around her people calling their wares and prices and others were shopping.

A voice rang out above all the others. "Stop! Thief!" it shouted.

Kira turned to see a man wearing a purple vest with black hair run by. She noticed he was barefoot, and wearing baggy white pants that were frayed and had been patched near the ankle. He had a monkey on his shoulder wearing a small, red, hat, and in his arms was a pile of food.

Kira ran after him, trying to catch up, but eventually she got lost in the city's winding streets. As she walked around Kira noticed that the people seemed uneasy. She stopped a man and asked if he had seen any black creatures. He looked around, his eyes darting from left to right before telling her he hadn't seen anything like that and ran off.

"So it seems the people here are too afraid of the Heartless to tell me about them." Kira said to herself.

She continued making her way through the streets, eventually arriving at a large palace. The gates to the palace were closed and there weren't any merchant stalls in this area of the city. She looked around, hoping to find someone who could answer her questions. She saw a man wearing a white billowing outfit that had a large turban on his head with a golden feather. She approached him and grabbed his shoulder to get his attention. He turned to her, wrenching his shoulder free from her grip.

"How dare you attack a prince like this!" he said to her.

She backed away. "I'm sorry your highness, I'm new here and I didn't recognize you." She said.

He thought about what she said before nodding. "It's alright, just don't let it happen again."

"Of course." She replied, it was then that she noticed something about the prince, "Wait! You're the thief from the marketplace earlier!" She said to him.

His face changed from superiority to fear. "Wha-what are you talking about? I'm no such thief." He said weakly.

"But you are, you've changed your clothes sure, but you're the same man."

He held up his hands to quiet her. "Alright alright, I'm the same guy, but don't tell anybody. My name is Aladdin and I'm trying to get into the palace."

"Why?" Kira asked.

"There's a girl, the princess, she's getting married soon and I've fallen in love with her, but I can't get in without being some kind of royalty, and being a street rat is definitely not royalty." He explained.

"Where did you get the clothes?" Kira asked, "if you're poor enough that you have to steal food I don't see how you could get those clothes."

Aladdin's face widened in a grin, "Well you see, I went to the Cave of Wonders and found this." He produced a shining golden lap from inside his shirt.

"What about it?" Kira asked.

"It's a genie's lamp. I wished to become a prince, and here I am."

Kira nodded, "Alright, well, one more question before I leave, have you seen any black creatures appear around here lately?"

Aladdin nodded. "Yeah, they're all over the city. The whole of Agrabah is terrified of them."

Kira nodded slowly, "And do they seem to be, looking for something?" She asked.

Aladdin nodded again. "Yeah, people keep saying the monsters are looking in every alley and corner of the city, trying to find something, though when people get too close they attack."

"That's sounds like the Heartless."

"Heartless?" Aladdin asked.

"The Heartless are monsters born from the darkness in people's hearts, they come alive and try to steal the hearts of others to make more of them." Kira told him.

"That's horrible." Aladddin said in shock.

Kira dipped her head. "Yeah, that's why I'm here, to stop them."

"Well, maybe when I'm done with the princess, if you need any help?" he offered.

"I'll keep it in mind, thanks." Kira said before turning away, raising her hand in farewell.

She made her way through the city for the next few hours, as night began to approach she noticed the people were quickly fleeing into their homes or other nearby buildings. Kira summoned her keyblade and continued walking around the city. As she approached another clearing that was full of merchant stalls she heard the sound of the Heartless appearing. She used her left hand and grabbed The Jungle King keychain before attaching it to The Road to the Heart. She swung the new "Road to the Wild" experimentally. It was a little longer than any of her keyblades, and seemed a little heavier. It looked like the blade was made of sliver bamboo and the head was painted black with five silver, bamboo spokes coming from the tip. The handle was circular in shape, and black as well, with six silver dashes, three on each side, with two small fangs protruding near the blade half. The keychain dangled below, a pink heart with a butterfly in the center. She looked around to find a group of heartless staring at her.

They were black, and wore a large white turban on their heads, with purple jacks and billowing pants, with black pointed shoes. Each had a curved blade that they kept in constant motion. (Bandits; Bandits use their curved swords for quick, and powerful combo attacks, they can also disappear into the sand, coming up with powerful uppercut attacks on unsuspecting victims.)

Kira swung her keyblade in a large arc, destroying three of them almost instant. She darted forward, stabbing another one through the stomach and dissipating it. She looked around and saw the sand around her moving. She leapt into the air as three of the Bandits appeared in an uppercut where she'd been standing. She landed on top of a merchant stall, but the Bandits lunged at her and destroyed the stall, before it collapsed she leapt onto the roof of a nearby building. "Freeze" She aimed the keyblade at a group of bandits, and the small blue ball was released, it hit them and exploded into an icy sphere that destroyed them. As the last bandit was destroyed by the Blizzard spell a large heartless appeared in the center of the intersection.

It was wearing a turban that consisted of rounded balls attached to each other around its head and neck, its black body had the heartless emblem on its chest that was partially covered by an orange jacket, it had a yellow sash around its waist and green black pants with large, round, pale, yellow shoes. On its arms were two golden rings. (Fat Bandits: Fat Bandits use fire attacks to deal damage, either by punches, fireballs, or lighting themselves on fire before charging into their enemies)

Kira lifted her keyblade again "Free-" She dodged as a fireball quickly incinerated a barrel behind her. She came up to her feet and tried again "Freeze!" She launched the ice ball and it hit the Fat Bandit in the stomach, exploding into a frozen sphere. It shook with pain before launching another fireball at her. She leapt over it and came down in a power attack, but her keyblade bounced off the Fat Bandits large body. It slapped its stomach and lit it on fire, readying a charge. Kira lifted her keyblade to block when the Fat Bandit suddenly dissipated. She watched through the black smoke to see Aladdin standing there, a large curved sword in his hand, he was wearing his original outfit.

"Aladdin!" She said happily.

"What? I couldn't let you have all the fun." He said with a grin.

"But what about the princess?"

"She's waiting for me right now, I told her I'd protect her town by destroying the Heartless."

Kira shook her head. "Anyway, do you have any idea where a larger version of these guys could be?" She asked.

"Not that I can think of, but there is Jafar, he might be controlling them, I wouldn't put it past him."

"Jafar?"

"He's the royal vizier, or advisor, to the Saltan. He's a dark looking character and always seems to be up to something."

"An apt description, boy." A voice called to them from above.

Kira and Aladdin turned to see a man wearing a red robe with black shoulders, and a red turban with a black top half. He had a golden snake-head staff in his right hand, and on his left shoulder sat a little red parrot with a large beak.

"Now Aladdin, we've had our fun. Hand over the lamp." Jafar said holding out his hand.

"No, I won't trust something like that to you." Aladdin told him.

"Oh dear boy, I don't want you to trust me with it. I want you to give it to me. Now!" He growled.

The little bird flew from his shoulder and darted down to Aladdin, it flew around him pecking at him and trying to find the lamp. Kira ran over to help but was suddenly locked in place.

"_A stop spell!" _

Aladdin feebly attempted to get the parrot off of him, and eventually it flew back to Jafar, the golden lamp in its beak. It dropped the lamp into his outstretched hand and Jafar grinned maliciously.

"Good job Iago." He said.

"Sure, but just make sure I get a cut of the goods, ok?" Iago asked.

"Of course my dear friend." Jafar said before wrapping his cloak around himself and disappeared.

Kira came out of the stop spell and landed face first in the sand. Aladdin helped her up and the two of them began to think about what Jafar would want with the lamp.

"He's already got power, I mean he could tell the Saltan whatever he wants right?" Kira asked Aladdin as they made their way back to the palace.

"Right, and he has his magics, what else could he want?" Aladdin asked.

Suddenly, they both seemed to know what Jafar was after.

"The Princess!" They said together.

"If Jafar could marry the Princess, he would become Saltan, and that would make him the most powerful man in the world!" Aladdin explained.

"Then we can't let that happen, come on." Kira said, rushing toward the Palace.

The two of them reached the palace clearing and found Jafar standing there with a young woman strapped to a pole, her hands above her head.

"Jafar!" Aladdin shouted.

"Aladdin!" The girl shouted.

"Hush!" Jafar aimed his staff at the girl and a strip of cloth wrapped around her mouth, "You did well boy. To figure out that I was after Princess Jasmine the whole time."

"You can stop this now Jafar, just end it." Kira said summoning her keyblade.

"Why would I do that? Soon the whole world will be mine to command, and the genie will make that happen, but first; Genie! I command you to get rid of these meddlers." Jafar commanded.

A blue mist began to issue from the lip of the lamp, and it took form in a giant blue man, he had a red sash around his waist and two golden rings around his wrists, he had little hair on his head, what he did have was style in a small ponytail.

"Genie!" Aladdin shouted "Don't do it!"

"I have to Al, he's the one who has my lamp." Genie told him before snapping his fingers.

A group of heartless surrounded Kira and Aladdin. Genie looked away sadly as Jafar began to laugh manically. Kira swung her keyblade in a wide arc, destroying most of the heartless. Aladdin darted through them with incredible agility, destroying the rest. Jafar glared at them when he saw his heartless had been defeated.

"It seems that I'll have to take care of you myself."

"It's over Jafar, just give up!" Kira shouted at him, swinging her keyblade.

"Oh no my dear, it's far from over. Genie; for my second wish, I want you to turn me into a genie, so that I can have all the cosmic power in the universe!"

Genie looked at Jafar in shock, before feebly blasting him with his magic. Jafar quickly spun up into a red cyclone, when it stopped he was a giant blood red genie, with a red sash around his waist and a bare chest. He had glowing yellow eyes and a small ponytail on his head. Iago darted past, a little black lamp in his mouth.

Kira and Aladdin darted toward Jafar, swinging their swords at him to no avail. Jafar swept on of his large hands at them and they were blown back by a strong wind. Kira looked up to see Iago sitting on a rooftop nearby. She rushed forward and swung in an uppercut, knocking the lamp from his mouth. She caught it and held it up to Jafar.

"There's just one problem with being a genie Jafar, and that is you have to have a master." She aimed the lamp at him and it began to absorb his large body, turning it into red mist as it came near the lip.

"No! No! NOOOOOOOOO" Jafar shouted as he was sucked into the lamp.

When he was gone Kira took the lamp and threw it into the air, she quickly made the Road to Strength and swung a heavy hit at the lamp sending it flying far past the castle walls into the desert. As the lamp soared away the pole and the bindings on Jasmine disappeared, she dropped to all fours and Aladdin came over to help her up.

"Jasmine, are you alright?" he asked.

She nodded "Thank you Aladdin."

As they stared at each other Kira awkwardly cleared her throat. The two looked at her and smiled weakly.

"Thank you, for helping Aladdin defeat Jafar." Jasmine told her.

"It was nothing, all part of the job." Kira said.

"As a reward, I want you to have this." Jasmine took a small keychain off a bracelet she wore on her right hand, and handed it to Kira.

She examined it to see it was a silver chain with a small copy of the genie lamp on the bottom.

"Thank you." Kira said, tying it to her own bracelet.

The two nodded at her and Kira smiled back before leaving. She disappeared in a flash of light and was sitting in the cockpit of her Gummi-ship. She set the auto-pilot on and sat down in the driver's seat to catch up on her reading.


	9. Halloween Town

The Road to the Heart  
Chapter 9: Halloween Town

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters involved except Kira

Kira smiled to herself as she closed the final book of spells Merlin had given her. She had also found out what each of her keyblades did, and the combos with The Road to the Heart. After traveling through the Gummiverse she arrived at the next world. She docked her ship and departed onto the world below. When she arrived she noticed the world seemed darker than normal, she took a step when she heard a rustling sound nearby, she summoned her keyblade and twirled only to fall over.

"Ow…" Kira whined as she rubbed her butt. She looked down for what could've tripped her when she saw something she didn't expect.

Her outfit had changed so that she now wore a pair of small heels, her pants had been replaced with black and white striped stockings and she was wearing a purple dress whose skirt extended outward and ended in some kind of black fur. She felt something on her head and reached up to feel a witches hat. Her canine teeth were also sharpened and elongated so that they came out past her mouth and she had a pair of bat wings on the back of her dress. She stood and brushed herself off.

She looked up at the sky and saw it was pure black except for a giant white moon.

"Where am I?" She asked herself.

Suddenly she heard a scream, she turned toward the direction it had come from and ran off, careful not trip in her new shoes. After a minute she arrived in what looked like a town and saw a group of Heartless attacking some people. She summoned her keyblade, merging it with "The Wishing Star" keyblade she'd received from Gepetto. It merged into The Road to Wishes, it was a simple keyblade, one of the smallest Kira owned, It was silver along the blade, with a wooden texture, it had a silver piece connecting a black cog to form the spokes. The handle was a complex mixture of black gears on a single board that was connected, by two silver chain pulleys, to another, smaller board at the bottom. The keychain was a pink heart with a star in the center.

She closed the distance quickly, smashing each of the new heartless rapidly, dealing small amounts of damage until she finished her combo, a large explosion of stars signaled the magic in the keyblade also dealing damage. When she finished off all the heartless she let the keyblade disappear, it was then that she noticed the crowd of people weren't really people. They were a group of monsters; three witches, a werewolf, and a strange doll woman.

"Who are you?" Kira asked them.

"I'm Sally." The doll woman said putting a hand on her patched chest.

The rest of the crowd slowly dispersed leaving Sally and Kira to talk to each other.

"Do you know where I am, and why those things attacked you?" Kira asked.

"You're in Halloween Town, and as for why those monsters attacked, I can only assume the want to ruin Halloween." Sally said.

"Hm…" Kira said putting a hand on her chin.

"Maybe you should talk to Jack?" Sally suggested, "He'll know what to do."

"Alright." Kira said, "Lead the way."

Sally turned and led Kira through the town up to a large laboratory/house on top of a hill. Inside they met a small man with a beaked face and an opening head. He introduced himself as Dr. Finklestein and told them he hadn't seen Jack, but he figured that he'd be at the Curved Hill in the Graveyard. Sally led them to the hill and they saw a single, thin, figure standing on top of a curved hill, he seemed to be reaching toward the moon.

"Jack!" Sally called to him.

The figured turned to them, then leapt into the air, landing in front of them, he stood almost twice as tall as Kira. Kira didn't notice that though, she was busy staring at the skeleton of a man wearing a black suit. He grinned at her, his mouth looked like a line of stitches, and his eyes were large and empty, and his fingers were only bones.

"Hello newcomer. My name is Jack Skellington! The Pumpkin King!" He shouted gloriously.

"Hello Jack." Kira said weakly, waving a hand at him feebly.

"What's your name?" he asked, bending down to her.

"I'm Kira." She said.

"Kira." He said to himself, as if to memorize it, "What brings you to Halloween Town Kira?"

"I came to help with your Heartless problem." She told him.

"Excellent, they're putting a real dent in the schedule, we were just about to give up on Halloween this year to clean those monsters out." Jack said, standing up.

"Don't worry, I'll have them out of your hair soon enough." She said happily.

Jack smiled at her before leading the group back to Halloween Town. As they arrived another group of Heartless appeared, a group of gargoyle looking Heartless, as well as some white, mummy looking ones. (Gargoyles: They use their stealthy flying skills to catch their opponents with surprise attacks, but are in turn surprised if they instead get caught) (Wight Knights: A mummy looking Heartless that use their jagged, dancelike moves as attack, they're fairly easy to dodge, but can deal massive damage if they connect.)

Kira summoned her keyblade and Jack held out his hands and summoned two fireballs in each before charging in the group and sending them flying. Kira merged Jungle King and charged in, using the advanced reach to keep her enemies at a distance. They finished off the group of heartless and sighed as they let their weapons disappear.

"It seems they just keep coming." Jack said sadly.

"There's usually a boss around if there's this many, any idea where there would be a large Heartless?" Kira asked him.

"No, but I do know a certain Heartless person who might." Jack told her.

They helped Sally get home safely and from there set off through the graveyard, they used the curvy hill to climb over a wall and appeared in a large clearing where there was a tower of a house reaching toward the sky.

"Oogie! Come on out!" Jack called up to the top of the house.

They heard a great crashing sound echo down to them, and a minute later a large, bag-like man appeared. He dropped down from the top floor and landed in front of them with a great shake.

"What's wrong Jack?" Oogie asked.

"We think you know where the Heartless are coming from." Jack told him.

"The Heartless? Do you mean those little black monsters that are always tearin' up my house?" he asked.

"That… would be them." Kira said sadly.

Their lead just seemed to disappear, if the Heartless were attacking Oogie as well that would mean he couldn't be controlling them.

"If you could get them out of my house, that would be splendid!" Oogie told them.

"Well, you see-" Kira began.

"Alright." Jack interrupted her.

She looked up at him and he winked at her. She grasped the idea. Oogie led them into his house and immediately they noticed a few shadows walking around the ground floor.

"These little guys I can just walk over, that's no big deal, it's the larger ones upstairs that are giving me problems." Oogie explained.

The pair set to work, easily dispatching the heartless. Oogie led them up to the next floor and showed them each room, they cleared out all the heartless, continuing this process until they reached the top of the tower. Once in Oogie's room, he thanked them and handed Kira a small keychain with a Jack o' Lantern at the bottom, she tied it to her bracelet and they set off. As they walked back to Halloween Town they noticed that the amount of Heartless that attacked them was little if any attacked them at all. They entered Dr. Finklestein's lab and reported that the Heartless population had decreased.

"Thank you for your help Kira." Jack told her. "If there's anything else you need, don't hesitate to ask."

"Thanks Jack, I'll remember that." Kira said with a smile.

As she left town, she raised her hand in farewell. Jack and Sally waved to her until Kira turned a corner and disappeared. Back on the Gummiship, her clothes had returned to normal, she set her sights on the next world and sped off, turning on auto-pilot so she could practice with her new keyblade.


	10. Atlantica

The Road to the Heart  
Chapter 10: Atlantica

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any or any of the characters involved except Kira.

It took Kira about thirty minute to travel from Halloween Town to the next world, in that time she had a basic understanding of her new keyblade; "Pumpkinhead". She arrived at the next world and immediately disembarked, anxious to see what kind of world it was. As the light faded and she appeared on the world, she looked around. She was underwater, she felt the waves playing at her hair, and she saw the coral and wild-life of the undersea world. She looked down to see her legs and feet had been replaced with a giant fin, and her shirt was now a small, thin strap tank top that hid her chest, but left her midriff open. She blushed seeing her body exposed, and tried to pull the top down as far as it would go, but it didn't do anything. She gave up and eventually got used to it. She swam off toward the nearest structure she could see.

As she arrived at the structure she saw it was a city, with other mer-people swimming around enjoying themselves. Kira stopped and watched as a particular red-headed mermaid with a green tail swam past her and a yellow fish followed. Kira took off after her, hoping to have her questions about the Heartless answered. She followed the Mermaid for a few minutes when they stopped at a sunken ship. The Mermaid went inside without hesitation, her fish companion seemed a little more hesitant. Kira followed them in and stopped. She was in the hold of the ship and a large heartless was floating in front of them. It looked similar to a jellyfish (Sheltering Zone; they fling their electrified tentacles to keep their enemies away, and shock those that touch them. When hit, the break up into Sea Neons)

Kira summoned her keyblade immdiately and merged it to make the Road to Scares. It's spokes were a silver stylized bat, and the blade was a thin silver tube, the handle was a black circle with a silver skull as the guard with a complex patchwork of thin silver lines. The Keychain was a pink heart with a jack o' lantern in the center. Kira swam forward, smashing the keyblade against the Sheltering Zone. The Sheltering Zone shook for a moment before disappearing, spitting out three smaller versions in three random directions. (Sea Neons; Swimming fast and using numbers to their advantage, Sea Neons present little threat alone) Kira held her keyblade above her head "Thundera", the lightning storm struck and ravaged the smaller heartless.

Kira let her keyblade dissipate and turned to the mermaid who was currently looting a chest.

"Are you alright?" Kira asked.

"I'm fine, thank you." The mermaid said, turning to her.

"Who are you?" Kira asked.

"I'm Ariel, and you?"

"Kira."

"Kira. Do you know what it's like, to live on other worlds?" Ariel asked.

"You know about the other worlds?" Kira asked her in disbelief.

"I do, I just know there has to be more than Atlantica out there." Ariel said sadly.

Kira stared at her for a moment before speaking again. "Ariel, do you know about those creatures I just defeated?"

Ariel nodded "They've recently started appearing. Every day their numbers grow. My father and his guards are having a hard time keeping them out of the city."

"I'll help." Kira told her. "I've come here to destroy their leader." Kira explained.

"Will you? Will you really?" Ariel asked, getting excited.

"Of course." Kira said smiling.

"We must go tell my father!" Ariel shouted happily before swimming away.

Kira followed her as they made their way back to the city. From there Ariel led Kira to the palace in the center of the city and they were let in. They approached the throne room and Kira felt small in the large palace. She noticed around them there were pillars that formed a general path, and in front of them the pillars fanned out in a circle to form a kind of room. In the middle of the room was a throne and sitting in it was an older man with white hair and a crown upon his head. To his right sat a golden trident.

"Daddy, I'm back!" Ariel called rushing over to the white-haired man.

"Ariel! Where have you been?" The man asked.

"I was out exploring."

"Ariel, you know I've forbade you from leaving the city."

"But daddy-"

"No, I won't listen to a word of it, go to your room." He said.

Ariel pouted before taking off, sobbing. Kira approached the king now and bowed at the waist. The king noticed her.

"Who are you? I don't recognize you."

"I'm Kira your majesty. I come from another world."

"Another world?" The king asked.

"Yes, I've come here because I'm on a quest to rid the world of the Heartless." Kira explained.

"The Heartless?"

"Monsters that prey on people and take their hearts. Usually they come in packs with a leader or central group in charge, if that leadership is destroyed, they leave the world alone."

The king thought for a minute. "I'll accept your help Kira. My men and I are being hard-pressed with these, Heartless, running about. No one is safe, and my people are afraid to leave their homes."

"Of course." Kira said with a bow.

"I believe there would be a place these Heartless gather, around a sea cave to the east of here." The King told her.

"I will head there at once your majesty." Kira told him.

Kira set out from the Throne Room and made her way toward the sea cave the king had told her about. On her way she was attacked by more Heartless. It looked like a giant fish that carried three green, sea-people looking Heartless that carried spears (Aquadtank: Large heartless that roam the seas contently, they are passive unless attacked, are accompanied by Screwdrivers) (Screwdrivers; green sea-people looking Heartless that are unpredictable in combat, they are invigorated by the sparks generated by their Aquatank Counterparts).

Kira approached the group and summoned The Road to Wisdom, casting an Aeroa spell to protect herself. She charged into the group and swung at one of the Screwdrivers sending it back, she followed up with a quick slash, stunning another one of the Screwdrivers. She was stabbed twice as the other Screwdriver dove past her, She swung in an off-balance backhand, dissipating the nearby stunned Screwdriver and hitting the other one away. She swam a little closer toward the Aquatank and held out her keyblade "Force!" A large black ball appeared and flattened the Aquatank. While it was stuck in place the two Screwdrivers regained their wits and charged again. Kira held her keyblade up "Thunder!" Thundera struck again, destroying the group of Heartless.

Kira left the battle-scene and continued toward the cave, and when she finally arrived she saw an Octopus-woman commanding some Heartless. Kira summoned the Road to Strength and charged in. As she approached the woman she turned and saw her coming, issuing a few hasty orders, the Heartless turned and charged her. She was quickly surrounded by three Aquatank squads and two Sheltering Zones. Kira held her keyblade with both hands, lifting it to be in a defensive stance.

Thunder suddenly rained down, destroying all of the Heartless. Kira turned to see King Triton advancing with Ariel by his side. She cast a cure spell on Kira to replenish her strength. The three turned to the Octopus-woman.

"Ursula!" King Triton shouted.

"Oh, King Triton, what a pleasant surprise." She replied.

"Enough talk you evil witch, relinquish command of the Heartless and get them out of Atlantica."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because I'll banish you if you don't!" King Triton threatened.

Ursula began to laugh as more Heartless appeared. "How about you try and make me King Triton?"

"Kira, Ariel, take care of the Heartless. I'll deal with Ursula."

The two girls nodded before separating to fight the Heartless. Kira used her Keyblade to dispatch them easily while Ariel provided magical support. They continued to fight while Ursula and King Triton fought their own battle, eventually Ursula was defeated and the Heartless scattered. The trio returned to Atlantica where King Triton informed them of something he'd heard from Ursula.

"Apparently, according to Ursula, the keyblade is a beacon for Heartless. When a Keyblade Bearer enters a world, they bring the destruction of the Heartless with them, whether they do it on purpose or not."

"But that's impossible." Kira said, "The Keyblade was designed to stop the Heartless, not attract them."

"I don't know if this is true or not, but I must keep my world safe. Kira, I ask that you please leave Atlantica immediately." King Triton told her.

"Daddy-" Ariel began.

"No Ariel! I have made my decision and that's final. If the Heartless continue to grow then Kira will be welcomed back with open arms." King Triton explained.

Kira nodded and turned to leave.

"Before you go though, I have a gift for you." King Triton held out his hand in it was a small keychain, The chain was silver and at the bottom was a little blue seashell. Kira took it from him and he nodded. She turned and left Atlantica.


	11. Neverland

The Road to the Heart  
Chapter 11: Neverland

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters involved except Kira

Kira disembarked from her Gummiship onto a new world she had found. When the light faded she was standing in what felt like the hold of a ship, the swaying motion at least confirmed it was a ship. Looking around Kira noticed a large amount of stacked barrels and crates. She took a step forward when a group of Heartless surrounded her.

"This place looks really bad." She said summoning The Road to Strength.

The heartless that surrounded her were a mixed group of Shadows and a new Heartless; they wore a red bandana over their heads and had an eye patch on their right eye. They wore gold wrappings on their wrists with a small red shirt, they had brown pants and shoes, and they carried a large black saber. (Pirates; these heartless use their swords to carve away anything that stands before them, but they neglect to check their backs every once in a while.)

Kira swung her keyblade in a heavy left-way arc, but the pirates deflected the blow with ease sending Kira off-balance. She was quickly hacked to pieces before she regained her footing. She swung in an overhead blow and made contact quickly destroying a Pirate. As she turned on the other heartless a figure flew past. It was an orange haired boy wearing a green cap and green clothes with brown shoes. He flew past her and slashed at the Heartless with his dagger, golden dust falling off of his body. As the Heartless turned to face this new threat, Kira mopped them up with one powerful stroke.

The boy alighted down next to her and smiled. "Hello, who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Kira." She told him, "Thanks for the help… uh-"

"Peter, Peter Pan." He told her.

"Peter." She confirmed.

"What brings you here?" Peter asked.

"I'm here to deal with the Heartless, and it seems this world is full of them."

"Yeah, those guys are popping up everywhere. Even on Neverland."

"Neverland?"

"It's a magical place full of pixies, and mermaids, and the native forever kids."

"Sounds nice." Kira agreed.

"It's amazing, but like I said, it's been overwhelmed with those black creatures lately."

"Don't worry, there's definitely a boss around here somewhere, and when I find it I'll destroy the boss and the Heartless will stop."

"Awesome! I think I might even know where the captain of these Heartless is."

"Really? Could you show me?"

"Of course, follow me."

Peter flew through a set of door and Kira ran off after him. He showed her through the entire ship until they arrived on deck. As Kira shut the door behind her Peter dropped down to the deck of the ship and pointed at a man wearing a red hat and coat with a hook hand.

"That's Captain Hook, he's the meanest pirate in all of Neverland. I bet he's behind the Heartless attacks." Peter explained.

Kira nodded, summoning the Road to Scares she rushed forward and swung at the Pirate, but she was blocked by the sudden appearance of a Pirate. It deflected her blow and sent her off-balance. She swung again from the right and it made contact, sending it flying. By now Captain Hook had heard the battle behind him and turned to see Kira and Peter Pan engaging the lone Pirate.

"Blast you Peter Pan!" Captain Hook shouted before drawing his own sword and charging in.

Kira dispatched the Pirate but barely had time to deflect the thrust from Captain Hook. She swung in a retaliating blow but the Captain leapt back and lunged again. Peter appeared, catching the blade of the Captain's sword and sliding down to the guard, the two were caught in a match of strength as their blades trembled with the force behind them. As they fought Kira noticed a new group of Heartless appearing. She left Captain Hook to Peter and began to dispatch the Heartless, although she had a bit of difficulty. The Pirates could block her moves, and a new heartless, a group of flying pirates (Air Pirates; They use their ability to fly to inflict damage with their martial-art-like techniques) would fly out of the range of her keyblade. She managed to defeat one of the Pirates but she was beginning to feel exhausted. She kept swinging with all her might, often having the magic of her keyblade assist in the damage and would send the Pirates reeling.

"Peter Pan, why would you attack me ship like this?" Captain Hook asked as they pushed each other back and forth toward and away from the plank of the ship.

"I'm trying to stop the Heartless." Peter told him, "And the only person I could think of who would fight with them is you!"

"Blast you Peter!" Captain Hook shouted as he pulled his blade away and began a rapid assault of slashes that pushed Peter closer to the edge of the ship.

Kira luckily dispatched an Air Pirate when she noticed Captain Hook and Peter fighting. She turned to help but a Pirate slashed her across the back sending her sprawling on the deck of the ship. She weakly tried to push herself up, but collapsed. She watched helplessly as Peter was pushed over the side of the ship. Suddenly, a green blur darted by, Captain Hook was pushed into the water and Kira could hear his screams of agony as she assume he was eaten, but she saw him running on the water into the distance, apparently being chased by a sort of crocodile. Peter landed next to her and made her drink a potion which brought back some of her strength.

"Come on, we need to finish off these Heartless." Peter told her with a grin.

Kira nodded and pushed herself up. She summoned The Road to the Heart and charged into the mob of Heartless with Peter. The two of them fought through the horde and when they reached the middle Kira raised her keyblade above her head "Thundara!" the lightning rained down and dispatched a majority of the Heartless. She swung to her right and destroyed a Pirate while Peter flew overhead, chasing down the Air Pirates. The Heartless had apparently lost their cohesion at the loss of Captain Hook, they put up little resistance as Kira and Peter finished off the last of them. When Kira swung through the last Pirate, sending it up in smoke Peter flew over to her with a smile on his face.

"We did!" he shouted happily.

"Yeah, hopefully with Captain Hook gone the Heartless won't attack Neverland anymore." Kira told him.

He nodded, "Here, I want you to have something." Peter reached behind his back and produced a small keychain, he took his feather out of his cap and tied it to the end before handing it to Kira. She examined it for a second before tying it to her bracelet.

"You should come back some time. I'm sure Tinkerbell would love to meet you." Peter said with mock seriousness.

"Why's that?" Kira asked.

"Well you're real pretty for one." Peter told her, his smile widened when Kira's face turned red.

"I better be going." Kira said, trying to end the conversation quickly.

"Just remember you'll always be welcome in Neverland."

She nodded and turned to leave, when she disappeared inside the ships hold she took a deep breath before she was warped up to her Gummiship.

As she sat down in the command seat she brought up a communications screen to talk to Cid.

"Well, seems you've gotten all of the worlds." Cid told her when he answered.

"I don't think so, my radar says there's one more world with a large amount of Heartless in it." Kira told him.

"Oh, I didn't think your scanners would get that world." Cid told her.

"You know about it?"

"I know about it alright, it's where we come from; Me, Leon, Yuffie, Aerith. It's called Hollow Bastion. It was a once great city with a giant castle in the middle, but it's all ruins now, ain't no point in going there."

"Cid, I have to defeat all the Heartless. If I leave one world alone to build up then it could bring a whole new wave into the other worlds."

Cid was silent for a moment, "Alright. But be careful, that world is full of ruins from us. There's traps and puzzles aplenty, and I don't want you getting' hurt. Couldn't live with myself if you ended up dead out there."

Kira nodded, "Don't worry Cid. I can handle myself." She told him with a smile. "Kira out."

The screen closed down and Kira set her thrusters to take her to Hollow Bastion. She sat back in the seat and began to think about all the adventures she'd had and all the friends she'd made when a sudden blast shook the ship. She sat up in the chair and saw a giant, swirling cloud of energy in front of her. She grabbed the sticks and attempted to steer the ship away, but it was too strong and the ship was being pulled in.

She tried to fire her weapons at it, but they didn't do anything and as she began to be consumed by the wave she sent out a distress beacon to Cid, hoping he'd come and find her. As her command seat passed through the portal she lost consciousness, a heavy force pressed down on her, tiring her immediately. Her last thought before she hit the floor; _"Where am I going now?"_

Eight years passed before anyone saw a Keyblade wielder again. It was a young boy with spiky brown hair who went by the name of Sora. He, along with two knights from King Mickey's court set out with a new quest to forever stop the Heartless from entering worlds by sealing the keyholes that led to the heart of the world.

In the time between Sora's arrival and Kira's disappearance, a few changes had occurred between the worlds. Cid had given up on being a Gummi Engineer, after Kira's disappearance in the Gummiverse, he couldn't bring himself to build another ship for anyone that could end up the same.

Kira's key chains also returned to their worlds, as Sora retrieved them for himself later on. It also seemed that no one could remember Kira, no matter how hard they tried. All memory of the black-haired keyblade wielder had disappeared except for those who lived in a different world from their own, and nobody had told Sora of Kira, so as not to discourage him from completing his quest. He did complete it though, as he locked the last keyhole, the keyhole of Kingdom Hearts, the heart of all worlds. He lost his friend Riku, and King Mickey to the other side of the door as they had to seal Kingdom Hearts from the other side. Sora didn't give up though, he continued to search for his friend with the help of his two new friends. What he didn't know, was that his and Kira's paths were about to cross for the first time.


End file.
